Jerod Mayo of New England Patriots announces retirement

Eight-year linebacker Jerod Mayo of the New England Patriots announced on Tuesday that he will possibly be retiring from the NFL via his Instagram profile. Mayo has been a consistent face in the Patriots' organization since 2008, and appeared in all 16 games in three different seasons, including this year's.

Mayo's career started with him being the AP defensive rookie of the year in his debut season with 98 tackles. In 2010 he had 114 tackles, and made the Pro Bowl as well as First Team All-Pro. He was also 10th in the league in fumbles recovered with three that season. Mayo also appeared in the 2012 Pro Bowl game, in a season where he appeared in all games, and had 87 tackles and three sacks.

In the past three seasons, Mayo's impact hasn't been as large, but he's still been a decent defensive player. He had at least 35 tackles in his final three seasons as a Patriot.

Now, with his career coming to a close, he has totaled 11 sacks, 535 tackles, and seven recovered fumbles. His impact on the field was great, and he will surely be missed by New England.

As for what Mayo has thought of his career, he called being an NFL player a, "life changing event," and thanked the Kraft family, head coach Bill Belichick, as well as the fans. Mayo was a part of two Super Bowl wins, and numerous playoff appearances.

Mayo didn't say what's next for his life, but after eight years in the NFL, he's probably ready to slow down, enjoy retirement, and spend some more time with his family before he moves on to do anything else.

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Highest paid player on every NFL team 2015

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Jerod Mayo of New England Patriots announces retirement

32. Joe Thomas, Cleveland Browns — $9,000,000

Position: Left tackle

2015 earnings breakdown: $8.8 million salary, $200,000 workout bonus.

One thing to know: Thomas has started every game of his 9-year NFL career.

26t. DeAndre Levy, Detroit Lions — $13,000,000

One thing to know: Levy's $33.8 million contract is a distant fourth when ranking the total value of contracts for Lions players, but he has the benefit of a signing bonus this year. Over the next four years, his salary is a more reasonable $5-7 million per year.

26t. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings — $13,000,000

One thing to know: After missing nearly the entire 2014 season, Peterson is back and already leading the NFL in rushing through the first four weeks. His 3-year, $42 million contract did not come with a signing bonus, so it is basically a year-to-year deal.

22. Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots — $15,000,000

One thing to know: With the Patriots locking up Gronkowski to a 6-year, $54 million contract in 2012, they got one of the best steals in the NFL. Gronk will have salaries of $2.25 million and $4.25 million the next two years.

14. Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys — $17,000,000

One thing to know: Romo's 6-year, $108 million contract originally called for a $17 million salary this season. By turning $16 million of that into a bonus, the Cowboys are able to spread the impact to the salary cap over several years. The downside is that he will count $21 million against the cap next season despite just an $8.5 million salary, so another restructuring will likely be done.

(Photo by Mike Stone/Getty Images)

13. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints — $19,000,000

One thing to know: Drew Brees is now in Year 4 of his 5-year, $100 million contract, and the back-loaded deal is starting to kill the Saints' salary cap. Brees will take up $26.4 million against the cap this year, more than $5 million more than any other player in the NFL.

11. J.J. Watt, Houston Texans — $19,969,000

One thing to know: In just the second year of his 6-year, $100 million contract, Watt has already restructured the deal once, converting his $10 million roster bonus this season into a restructure bonus, spreading the cap hit out over the next five years.

6. Marcell Dareus, Buffalo Bills — $27,823,530

One thing to know: Dareus cashed in just before the start of the season with a $96.6 million contract that includes $60 million guaranteed. However, as has become the norm in the NFL, the "real guarantee" is really just his earnings this year with the rest only guaranteed against injury.

3. Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers — $35,250,000

One thing to know: At $87.4 million, the contract signed this off-season by Big Ben doesn't sound as sexy as the other deals signed by quarterbacks. However, it was better than most as he got more than $35 million in Year 1 and a whopping $53 million over the first two seasons.